Burka-wearing gunmen raid French bank

Two burka-wearing bank robbers have pulled off a heist near Paris using a handgun concealed beneath their full Islamic veil.

Spain is considering a ban on the burqa in public placesPhoto: REUTERS

By Henry Samuel in Paris

3:24PM GMT 08 Feb 2010

Employees let the pair through the security double doors of the banking branch of a post office, believing them to be Muslim women. But once inside, the men flipped back their head coverings and pulled out a gun, officials said.

They seized 4,500 euros (£4,000) in cash, according to staff at the branch in Athis Mons, just south of Paris, and made their getaway.

The raid comes as France is looking into ways of restricting - or banning - the use of the head-to-toe Islamic veil on the grounds it is incompatible with the values of the republic.

Last month a parliamentary report called for a ban in schools, hospitals, government offices and on public transport.

Jean-François Copé, the leader of President Nicolas Sarkozy's Right-wing UMP party in parliament, wants to go further, and has presented a bill to make it illegal for anyone to cover their faces in public on security grounds.

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The unusual bank heist, carried out on Saturday, will provide ammunition to supporters of a blanket ban due to security concerns.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has declared the burka "not welcome" in France, where the concept of secularism in the public sphere is considered sacrosanct. Mr Sarkozy favours legislation to outlaw it, but has stopped short of calling for a full ban and has warned against stigmatising Muslims.

According to the interior ministry, only around 1,900 women wear the burka in France, which is home to around six million Muslims.

On Sunday, Nadine Morano, the French families minister, said foreigners who come to live in France should sign a contract recognising that the wearing of the full Islamic veil is banned.